Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

crunch_time

Thanks for reminding me that I need to do a snowball calculator for us once we have moved! We are going to take the scenic route for a bit so it will make things clearer going forward xx

AdventureWanted

Another PAD made today to CC1. A bank round down of £4.69 takes balance to £4,085.91 (£965.31 to pay by Jan).

Have been speaking to DH lots the last couple of days about our finances and think he finally has had his LBM. He is going to try and do a minimum of 2 day’s overtime each month, which should mean a reasonable amount extra to throw at the debt. I feel so much happier about our debts today. I’m really impressed with how things have changed over the last couple of months and going forward we shouldn’t ever be in the position we are in now. Even though our debt balance is high I am looking forward to the challenge of paying it off as soon as possible. I can see an end to the debts and now I’m on a mission to reduce the DFD (50 months) down by a year. So the first debt on the hit list is CC1. I want this definitely gone by July 2018, but aiming for March 2018.

AdventureWanted

Today has been pretty glorious. The sun has been out and it’s been warm enough to not need a coat. Went for a 2 mile walk with the kids, my mum & her 2 dogs. Really enjoyed it, although I could tell i’d walked further than normal as my hips felt stiff. Definitely need to incorporate more exercise into my day and walking is the easiest form of exercise, especially as DC3 loves being in the sling carrier so much.

Paid £15.31 off CC1 today. Luckily still have money in my PAD account on ynab to be able to make payments every day until the month end.

Did a quick top up shop at Lidl today and was really pleased that I spent just under £15. We had quite a lot of things and I had an awful feeling it was going to cost loads, so I was pleasantly surprised. Grocery total for the month currently stands at 279.24 (want groceries to consistently be £280 p/m). I annoyingly forgot to get a couple of bits at the shop, but as my shopping is currently at my desired level I’m going to try and avoid nipping to the shop until 1 November.

In other news DH is doing 2 day’s overtime this week, so that should hopefully be a bit of extra cash to throw at the debts next month.

AdventureWanted

£6 bank round down paid to CC1 today. So the Jan 0% balance is currently £944. Need to review all the accounts either tonight or at the weekend, including the business accounts to see how realistic I am being in overpaying debt. The last thing I want to do is pay too much and then be in trouble later on.

One of the DC’s swimming lessons is cancelled today, so that’s another bit of money i can pay off the CC this month. I am counting down the days now until payday. All DDs have come out of the bank account, other than a bit spare for CC payments each day. Looking forward to getting paid and being able to pay a larger sum to CC1. Can’t believe October is almost over and that next month DC3 turns 1. Luckily other than buying cards and making a cake DC3s birthday is sorted and for a lot less than I had originally planned.

Anyway best get on, as got lots to do before heading out to swimming. Thankfully only have to sit poolside in the searing heat for half an hour today not the usual hour.

AdventureWanted

I haven’t managed to post on here for a few days, but I’ve still been making additional credit card payments. Finding it a bizarre thing in a way having a diary, as quite often my life is pretty boring and the daily PADs I’m making are small and make little different to the balance.

Anyway today is Pay day - hooray! Have made a larger payment of £275 to CC1 today. Looking at my balances I'm definitely on track to pay the 0% balance due in January off on time. I’ve found that tackling one debt at a time is definitely the best way forward for me. It stops me getting quite as overwhelmed and demotivated.

Month end debt round up:-

CC1
0% ending Jan 2018 - £580.00
0% ending Jul 2018 - £3,120.00

CC2
0% ending Jul 2018 - £7,403.00

CC3
0% ending Dec 2019 - £11,060.00

CC4
0% to Oct 2020 - £13,000.00

Total debt at 30/10/17 = £35,163.

This figure is still scarily high, but I am looking forward to it being in the 34s at the end of November.

Anyway best run now, I’ve got a mountain of work I need to do tonight.

AdventureWanted

Made a small pad today of £2 to CC1. Balance is now £3698. It’s so brilliant to have the balance now within the 600 numbers. Can’t wait until it’s less than £3500.

I feel pretty happy this evening, in fact I have all pm. I managed to finish the work I have been labouring over this morning and handed it in, so it is a HUGE weight off my shoulders. This afternoon we took the DCs to the cinema to see the my little pony movie and then had dinner out at Bella italia. The best part is that we had Tesco Clubcard boost vouchers for both so was a very cheap treat.

Need to finalise DHs tax return this week and then I can work out where we stand with our finances. Fingers crossed we have over estimated his tax balance and that we may have a bit extra to throw at the debts.

Thankfully I don’t have any work to do tonight so I can watch the final of GBBO.

jwil

You are doing really well :T

I feel the same about the small pads, but then you look at the end of the month and realise you've paid off a portion without thinking about it. £1 a day is £30 a month, not that small an amount!

Fingers crossed the tax bill is lower than expected

AdventureWanted

Thanks Jwil.

Yesterday the monthly DD came out for CC1. I upped the monthly dd from this month onwards to be a fixed sum for CC1, CC2 & CC3 rather than just the minimum which reduces each month. Yesterday’s dd and a small pad, along with today’s pad of £14.50 has meant that I have paid off 30% of CC1 since my LBM. :j

Debts at 30/10/17
CC1 - £3,700.00 Today’s balance is £3,629.50. Paid £70.50 so far this month.
CC2- £7,403.00
CC3 - £11,060.00
CC4 - £13,000.00

The 0% element ending in Jan is now £509.50. I’m quietly confident that I can pay this off in December, which will then give me 7 months to try and reduce the remainder of CC1 & CC2’s balance before I would need to balance transfer. Think I’ll continue to concentrate on CC1 as it’s the lowest balance and hopefully I can pay it off completely by July.

In other non debt related news I’ve had a mixed day. DC1 & DC2 did the best swimming ever at their swimming lessons, which was fantastic to watch and I’ve managed to persuade my very reluctant and anxious DC1 to read a few pages of a new reading book (Biff, chip & kipper time chronicles) this evening, which was an amazing win. The downside is I dyed my hair this morning and my usual dark brown hair is now black!! Aaah I could cry!! (I am very pale and look pretty ridiculous!). Can’t believe it’s happened as it’s the normal colour I use and I didn’t leave it on too long. My DH thinks I’m crazy for being so down about it, but even though I know it’s only hair and it’ll grow, it’s just such a shock!

AdventureWanted

PS. I know I’m being overly dramatic about my hair! I’ll get over it soon and stop whinging!!

AdventureWanted

Today’s pad is £4.50 going to CC1.